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Risk Science Center co-sponsors Emerging Technologies Conference

May 15, 2013

The University of Michigan Risk Science Center is proud to be co-sponsoring the first annual Governance of Emerging Technologies: Law, Policy and Ethics conference next week. Organized by Center for Law, Science and Innovation at Arizona State University’s Law School, the two-day conference will bring together leading commentators and critical thinkers to explore the unique [...]

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Carbon nanotubes as a potent cancer promoter – new data from NIOSH

March 14, 2013

Cross-posted from 2020 Science: On Monday, the National Institute for Occupational Safety released new data on the potential role multi-walled carbon nanotubes play as a cancer-promoter – a substance that promotes the development of cancer in the presence of a carcinogen. In the study, mice were injected with methylcholanthrene – a cancer initiating agent – [...]

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Top Ten Emerging Technology Trends for 2013

February 14, 2013

The World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has just published its annual list of the top ten emerging technology trends. Based on expert assessment from council members and others, the list provides insight into technologies that have the potential to have a significant economic and social impact in the near to mid [...]

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Late Lessons from Early Warnings – new insights into old lessons and emerging issues

January 23, 2013

Hilary Sutcliffe is the Director of MATTER, an EU based think tank which focuses on promoting Responsible Innovation, particularly the appropriate use of new and emerging technologies, such as nanotech, biotech, genomics, synthetic biology and geoengineering. She is also a member of the Risk Science Center External Advisory Board Late lessons from early warnings: science, [...]

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Hot Button Issues: Climate Change

January 7, 2013

The School of Public Health (SPH) recently published a feature in Findings magazine on ‘hot button issues’ with perspectives from the SPH community.  Several Risk Science Center members and collaborators were featured, and we are grateful to Findings for allowing us to re-post these articles as a six-part series in Risk Sense. Marie O’Neill on Climate Change: The Issue: Despite scientific consensus [...]

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Hot Button Issues: Motor Vehicles and Personal Technology

January 4, 2013

The School of Public Health (SPH) recently published a feature in Findings magazine on ‘hot button issues’ with perspectives from the SPH community.  Several Risk Science Center members and collaborators were featured, and we are grateful to Findings for allowing us to re-post these articles as a six-part series in Risk Sense. Peter Jacobson on Motor Vehicles and Personal Technology: The Issue: [...]

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Hot Button Issues: Fracking

December 18, 2012

The School of Public Health (SPH) recently published a feature in Findings magazine on ‘hot button issues’ with perspectives from the SPH community.  Several Risk Science Center members and collaborators were featured, and we are grateful to Findings for allowing us to re-post these articles as a five-part series in Risk Sense. John Callewaert on Fracking: The Issue: For several decades, the [...]

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Hot Button Issues: Chemicals Management

December 14, 2012

The School of Public Health (SPH) recently published a feature in Findings magazine on ‘hot button issues’ with perspectives from the SPH community.  Several Risk Science Center members and collaborators were featured, and we are grateful to Findings for allowing us to re-post these articles as a five-part series in Risk Sense. Greg Bond on Chemicals Management: The Issue: Chemistry is [...]

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Hot Button Issues: Genetically Modified Foods

December 10, 2012

The School of Public Health (SPH) recently published a feature in Findings magazine on ‘hot button issues’ with perspectives from the SPH community.  Several Risk Science Center members and collaborators were featured, and we are grateful to Findings for allowing us to re-post these articles as a five-part series in Risk Sense. Andrew Maynard on Genetically Modified Foods: The Issue: Global [...]

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EPA protections for obese and overweight adults

December 4, 2012

A new Occasional Paper published by the University of Michigan Risk Science Center addresses the significance of obesity to the pulmonary risk from air pollution. In the report, Patricia Koman – formerly a Senior Environmental Scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency – argues that the US EPA should include obese and overweight adults as [...]

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How Risky is your Breakfast?

November 6, 2012

Professor David Spiegelhalter is the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge. For more information about his work on risk, uncertainty and communication, please visit his website – Understanding Uncertainty.  Understanding how the numbers add up in relation to risk can help us deal with our own uncertainty, as [...]

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Announcing Iconarray.com: A Free, Tailorable, and Embeddable Generator of Icon Array Risk Graphics

October 25, 2012

What’s an icon array graphic, you say? Icon arrays (sometimes referred to as “pictographs”) are a type of visual display of risk statistics that use a matrix of icons (usually 100 or 1000) to represent an at-risk population. These displays simultaneously show both the number of expected events (e.g., deaths) and the number of expected [...]

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Fungal Meningitis Outbreak and exposure to Aspergillus spores

October 7, 2012

As of 2:00 PM today (Sunday, October 7) there were 91 reported cases of meningitis in 9 states, including 7 deaths according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all apparently related to use of an injectable steroid preparation used to treat back pain (see for instance New York Times, Oct 7).  All [...]

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Why should I wash my hands if I only pee?

September 24, 2012

“Why should I wash my hands if I only pee?”  It’s the sort of question most parents have had to handle at some time – especially if you have pretentious kids who delight in telling you how pure pee is!  It’s also the subject of the first post in this semester’s Mind The Science Gap [...]

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EPA’s risk assessment system needs an overhaul: Gray and Cohen

September 17, 2012

Quantitative Risk Assessment is hardly a topic that is likely to be seen trending on Twitter or going viral on YouTube anytime soon.  But it is important.  As I teach my students, how we assess and address human health risks affects almost every aspect of our lives.  Beyond the obvious benefits to our health and [...]

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Noise: it’s everywhere you want to be (Especially if you live in New York City)

July 30, 2012

Last week, the New York Times ran several articles on noise in New York City.  This is a somewhat momentous occasion for several reasons.  First, although noise is one of the most commonly cited neighborhood nuisances in America, it almost never makes the news.

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Early heads-up: new Graduate Certificate in Risk Science and Human Health

June 1, 2012

This fall, graduate students at the University of Michigan School of Public Health will be able to sign up for a new Graduate Certificate in Risk Science and Human Health.  The certificate is designed to provide students with a better understanding of science-informed and socially responsive approaches to health risks that are applicable in multiple [...]

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Andrew Maynard taking over as Interim Chair of the UM Environmental Health Sciences department

May 31, 2012

From June 1 I will be taking up the position of Interim Chair in the School of Public Health Environmental Health Sciences Department, as well as continuing to direct the Risk Science Center.  This is a great opportunity to build on the work of the previous chair Howard Hu and prepare the department for my [...]

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Communicating about communicating science at the National Academies

May 23, 2012

I‘ve just spent the last two days at the National Academies of Science listening to a long strong of folks talk about the Science of Science Communication. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me as I wasn’t a speaker and so could just kick back and listen – but I did get [...]

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Think Design – an alternative take on nanotech (in 11 minutes!)

May 23, 2012

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a “TED style talk” on nanotechnology for the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences department 125th anniversary. What they got was a short talk on “thinking small”: The other talks in the series are also worth checking out – covering topics as diverse as epigenetics, cancer, [...]

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